Planning is now a statutory requirement for schools.

Under Section 20 of the Education Act all schools are obliged to have a school plan.

The school plan is like the Bible except it’s the school’s own version. The school plan contains everything that needs to be known and should be known about the school, the way it’s run and the way learning takes place in it.

It is a legal requirement to have a school plan.

Schools will have their own particular layout and as its particular to their school it will also be at its own particular stage of development.

The school plan can be divided up into sections.

The following is indicative of how a school may divide up its plan:

• General School Details
• Vision/Mission Statement
• Curriculum Plans/Programmes
• Organisational Policies
• Procedures and Practices
• Development Section

The General School Details section would include areas such as the history of the school, details about school personnel, subjects taught, the opening and closing times, uniform, extra curricular activities etc.

The Vision/Mission Statement reflect the characteristic spirit of the school and would influence all policies. It would address inclusivity and equality (Equal Status Act 2000), the holisitic development of the child and would refer to the school climate/atmosphere.

Curriculum Plans/Programmes is fairly self-explanatory. A curriculum plan is based on the policy for a specific Primary Curriculum subject. The plan would set out the school’s policy to the teaching and learning for that particular subject. It would also refer to how the subject would be managed and organised within the school.

Organisational Policies would deal with the school’s response to legislative requirements, national guidelines. School practice in certain areas would be outlined here too.

The Procedures and Practices section would basically be short statements of fact rather than having  the need for a full blown policy.

The Development Section would detail on going work. You could call it a ‘work in progress’ or ‘what we hope to achieve’ section.

It’s important to realise is that the school plan is always evolving …. it never ends …. it will always have some part of it being reviewed …. if this isn’t happening it has lost its purpose.

The difficulty for schools in compiling their school plan is TIME.

Officialdom doesn’t care if you’re a small school or a big school …. we’re all expected to have our well detailed plan available for inspection.

In my school we have started all areas, some parts are well underway, whilst other are fully completed (until review time of course).

I’m busy at the Curriculum plans/Programmes section at the moment …. it’s well on the way …. but there’s still lots to do!

So the next time you have a go off the class teacher or the Principal who’s running around like a hare ….. stop …. and think …… SCHOOL PLAN!

* My next post on the ‘policies line’ will list what policies schools are advised to have or are legally obliged to have. *

* It will be a long list! *